Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (; ) was a Russian composer, teacher and conductor.

Biography

Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire, into a family of eminent Russian musicians. He was taught informally by his conductor step-father from 1860 to 1868, and then in 1870 entered the Saint Petersburg Conservatory to study piano and violin. He soon gave up instrumental study to concentrate on

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

and

fugue In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

, although he remained a fine pianist. His musical talent was highly regarded by

Modest Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (; ; ; – ) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five (composers), The Five." He was an innovator of Music of Russia, Russian music in the Romantic music, Romantic period and strove to achieve a ...

, among others, and during the 1870s he became associated with the group of composers known as The Five. Expelled from the composition classes of

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

for absenteeism in 1876, he re-enrolled in 1878 in order to complete his graduation composition.

Family

* paternal grandfather – Nikolai G. Lyadov (), conductor of the Petersburg Philharmonic Society * father – Konstantin Lyadov (Константин Ладов), chief conductor of the Imperial Opera Company * mother – V. Antipova, pianist * sister – Valentina K. Lyadova (), dramatic actress * brothers-in-law – Mikhail Sariotti (), opera singer; Ivan Pomazanskiy (), musician * paternal uncle – Alexander Lyadov (1818–1871; ), orchestral conductor of the Imperial Ballroom * cousin (uncle's daughter) – Vera Lyadova-Ivanova (1839–1870; ), actress and singer known for performances in operettas, married to

Lev Ivanov Lev Ivanovich Ivanov (; 2 March 1834, Moscow – 24 December 1901, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Mariinsky Ballet, Imperial Ballet. As a performer with the Mariinsky Ballet, ...

* cousin's husband (divorced) –

(Лев Иванов) ballet dancer and choreographer whose descendants now live in Iran with their second family (Zartari)

Teacher

He taught at the St. Petersburg Conservatory from 1878, with pupils including

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (; ; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize five times. Early years Myaskovsky ...

, Mikhail Gnesin, Lazare Saminsky, Lyubov Streicher, and

Boris Asafyev Boris Vladimirovich Asafyev (27 January 1949; also known by pseudonym Igor Glebov) was a Russian and Soviet composer, writer, musicologist, musical critic and one of founders of Soviet musicology. He is the dedicatee of Prokofiev's First Symp ...

. Consistent with his character, he was a variable but at times brilliant instructor. Conductor Nikolai Malko, who studied harmony with him at the conservatory, wrote, "Lyadov's critical comments were always precise, clear, understandable, constructive, and brief.... And it was done indolently, without haste, sometimes seemingly disdainfully. He could suddenly stop in midword, take out some small scissors from his pocket and start doing something with his fingernail, while we all waited."

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

remarked that Lyadov was as strict with himself as he was with his pupils, writing with great precision and demanding fine attention to detail. Prokofiev recalled that even the most innocent musical innovations drove the conservative Lyadov crazy. "Shoving his hands in his pockets and rocking in his soft woolen shoes without heels, he would say, 'I don't understand why you are studying with me. Go to

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; ; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer and conductor best known for his Tone poems (Strauss), tone poems and List of operas by Richard Strauss, operas. Considered a leading composer of the late Roman ...

. Go to

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

.' This was said in a tone that meant 'Go to the devil!'" Still, Lyadov said of Prokofiev to his acquaintances, "I am obliged to teach him. He must form his technique, his style—first in piano music." In 1905, he resigned his post over the dismissal of Rimsky-Korsakov, returning once Rimsky-Korsakov was reinstated.

Glazunov, Belyayev and Tchaikovsky

Lyadov introduced timber millionaire and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Mitrofan Belyayev to the music of the teenage

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov ( – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental i ...

.Volkov, 349. Interest in Glazunov's music quickly grew to Belyayev's patronage of an entire group of Russian

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

composers.Volkov, 349. In 1884 Belyayev instituted the Russian Symphony Concerts and established the annual Glinka Prize.Maes, 173. The following year he started his own publishing house in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. He published music by Glazunov, Lyadov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin at his own expense.Volkov, 349.Maes, 173. With young composers increasingly appealing to Belyayev for help, he asked Lyadov to serve on an advisory board to select among applicants, together with Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov.Maes, 173. The group of composers that emerged in this ambit became known as the Belyayev Circle.Volkov, 349. In November 1887, Lyadov met

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popula ...

. Nearly seven years earlier Tchaikovsky had given a negative opinion to the publisher Besel about a piano arabesque Lyadov had written. Even before this visit, though, there are indications that Tchaikovsky's opinion of Lyadov was evolving. He had, for example, presented Lyadov a copy of the score of his ''Manfred'' Symphony. Following their first meeting in person, the younger composer became "dear Lyadov." From winter of 1890, Tchaikovsky was a frequent visitor to Lyadov and the Belyayev Circle.

Later years

He married into money in 1884, acquiring through his marriage a country property in Polynovka, Borovichevsky, Novgorod Governorate, where he spent his summers composing unhurriedly, and where he died in 1914.

Music

While Lyadov's technical facility was highly regarded by his contemporaries, his unreliability stood in the way of his advancement. His published compositions are relatively few due to a certain self-critical lack of confidence. Many of his works are variations on or arrangements of pre-existing material (for example his ''Russian Folksongs'', Op. 58). He did compose a large number of piano miniatures, of which his ''Musical Snuffbox'' of 1893 is perhaps most famous. Like many of his contemporaries, Lyadov was drawn to intensely Russian subjects. Much of his music is programmatic; for example his tone poems '' Baba Yaga'' Op. 56, '' Kikimora'' Op. 63, '' The Enchanted Lake'' Op. 62 (inspired by the painting by Arseny Meshchersky, "The Enchanted Lake"). These short tone poems, probably his most popular works, exhibit an exceptional flair for orchestral tone colour. In his later compositions he experimented with extended tonality, like his younger contemporary Alexander Scriabin. It has been argued that Lyadov never completed a large-scale work. However, many of his miniatures have their place in the repertory. In 1905 Lyadov began work on a new ballet score, but when the work failed to progress, he shifted gears to work on an opera instead. Lyadov never finished the opera, but sections of the work found realization in the short

tone poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement (music), movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. T ...

s '' Kikimora'' and ''The Enchanted Lake''. In 1909

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), also known as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario an ...

commissioned Lyadov to orchestrate a number for the Chopin-based

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

'' Les Sylphides'', and on 4 September that year wrote to the composer asking for a new ballet score for the 1910 season of his

Ballets Russes The Ballets Russes () was an itinerant ballet company begun in Paris that performed between 1909 and 1929 throughout Europe and on tours to North and South America. The company never performed in Russia, where the Russian Revolution, Revolution ...

; however, despite the much-repeated story that Lyadov was slow to start composing the work which eventually became ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (; ) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Michel Fokine, who c ...

'' (famously fulfilled by the then relatively inexperienced

), there is no evidence that Lyadov ever accepted the commission.See Taruskin, pp. 577–8

Selected works

* ''Biryulki'', 14 pieces for piano, Op. 2 (1876) * Six Pieces for piano, Op. 3 (1876–1877) # Prelude in D major # Gigue in F major # Fugue in G minor # Mazurka in G major # Mazurka in B major # Mazurka in C major * Four Arabesques for piano, Op. 4 (1878) # Arabesque in C minor # Arabesque in A major # Arabesque in B major # Arabesque in E major * Etude in A major for piano, Op. 5 (1881) * Impromptu in D major for piano, Op. 6 (1881) * Two Intermezzi for piano, Op. 7 (1881) # Intermezzo in D major # Intermezzo in F major * Two Intermezzi for piano, Op. 8 (1883) # Intermezzo in B major # Intermezzo in B major * Two Pieces for piano, Op. 9 (1883) # Valse in F minor # Mazurka in A major * Three Pieces for piano, Op. 10 (1884) # Prelude in D major # Mazurka in C major # Mazurka in D major * Three Pieces for piano, Op. 11 (1885) # Prelude in B minor # Mazurka in the Dorian Mode # Mazurka in F minor * Etude in E major for piano, Op. 12 (1886) * Four Preludes for piano, Op. 13 (1887) # Prelude in G major # Prelude in B major # Prelude in A major # Prelude in F minor * Two Mazurkas for piano, Op. 15 (1887) # Mazurka in A major # Mazurka in A minor * Scherzo in D major for orchestra, Op. 16 (1879–1886) * Two Bagatelles for piano, Op. 17 (1887) # Bagatelle in B minor (La Douleur) # Bagatelle in B major (Pastoral) * ''Village Scene by the Inn'', Mazurka for orchestra, Op. 19 (1887) * Novellette in A minor for piano, Op. 20 (1882–1889) * ''About Olden Times'', Ballade in D major for piano, Op. 21a (1889) * ''About Olden Times'', Ballade in D major for orchestra, Op. 21b (1889) * ''In the Clearing'', Esquisse in F major for piano, Op. 23 (1890) * Two Pieces for piano, Op. 24 (1890) # Prelude in E major # Berceuse in G major * Idylle in D major for piano, Op. 25 (1891) * Little Waltz in G major for piano, Op. 26 (1891) * Three Preludes for piano, Op. 27 (1891) # Prelude in E major # Prelude in B major # Prelude in G major * Final scene from Schiller's ''Die Braut von Messina'' for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Op. 28 (1878, published 1891). This was his graduation piece. * ''Kukolki'' (''Marionettes'') in E major for piano, Op. 29 (1892) * Bagatelle in D major for piano, Op. 30 (1889) * Two Pieces for piano, Op. 31 (1893) # 'Rustic' Mazurka in G major # Prelude in B minor * ''Muzikalnaya tabakerka'' (''A musical snuffbox'') in A major for piano, Op. 32 (1893) * Three Pieces for piano, Op. 33 (1889) # Prelude on a Russian theme in A major # Grotesque in C major # Pastoral in F major * Three Canons for piano, Op. 34 (1894) # Canon in G major # Canon in C minor # Canon in F major * Variations on a Theme by Glinka in B major for piano, Op. 35 (1894) * Three Preludes for piano, Op. 36 (1895) # Prelude in F major # Prelude in B minor # Prelude in G major * Etude in F major for piano, Op. 37 (1895) * Mazurka in F major for piano, Op. 38 (1895) * Four Preludes for piano, Op. 39 (1895) # Prelude in A major # Prelude in C minor # Prelude in B major # Prelude in F minor * Etude and Three Preludes for piano, Op. 40 (1897) # Etude in C minor # Prelude in C major # Prelude in D minor # Prelude in D major * Two Fugues for piano, Op. 41 (1896) # Fugue in F minor # Fugue in D minor * Two Preludes and Mazurka for piano, Op. 42 (1898) # Prelude in B major # Prelude in B major # Mazurka on Polish Themes in A major * Barcarolle in F major for piano, Op. 44 (1898) * Four Preludes for piano, Op. 46 (1899) # Prelude in B major # Prelude in G minor # Prelude in G major # Prelude in E minor * Two Pieces for piano, Op. 48 (1899) # Etude in A major # Canzonetta in B major * Polonaise in C major ("In Memory of Pushkin") for orchestra, Op. 49 (1899) * Variations on a Polish Folk Theme in A major for piano, Op. 51 (1901) * Three Ballet Pieces for piano, Op. 52 (1901) # in E major # in C major # in A major * Three Bagatelles for piano, Op. 53 (1903) # Bagatelle in B major # Bagatelle in G major # Bagatelle in A major * Polonaise in D major for orchestra, Op. 55 (1902) * ''Baba Yaga'' for orchestra, Op. 56 (1891–1904) * Three Pieces for piano, Op. 57 (1900–1905) # Prelude in D major # Waltz in E major # Mazurka in F minor * ''Eight Russian Folksongs'' for orchestra, Op. 58 (1906) # Religious Chant. Moderato # Christmas Carol 'Kolyada'. Allegretto # Plaintive Song. Andante # Humorous Song 'I Danced With The Gnat'.Allegretto # Legend of The Birds. Allegretto # Cradle Song. Moderato # Round Dance. Allegro # Village Dance Song. Vivo * Ten Arrangements from '' Obikhod'' (a collection of old Russian Orthodox liturgical chants), Op. 61 (1909) # ''Stichira for the Nativity of Christ'' # ''Troparion for the Nativity of Christ "Rozdestvo Tvoe, Christe Bozhe nash"'' # ''Kondakion for the Nativity of Christ'' # ''Troparions "Blagoobrazny Iosiph (Prosperous Joseph)" and "Mironositsam zhenam (For myrrh-bearers wives)"'' # ''Chertog Tvoy vizhdu'' # ''Zadostoinik na Vozdvizhenie'' # ''Cherubical song'' # ''Tebe poem (To You we sing)'' # ''Khvalite Gospoda s nebes'' # ''Chashu spaseniya priimu'' * ''Volshebnoye ozero'' (''The Enchanted Lake'') for orchestra, Op. 62 (1909) * ''Kikimora'' for orchestra, Op. 63 (1909) * Four Pieces for piano Op. 64 (1909–1910) # Grimace # Gloom # Temptation # Reminiscences * Dance of the Amazon for orchestra, Op. 65 (1910) * ''From the Apocalypse'', symphonic picture for orchestra, Op. 66 (1910–1912) * Nénie for orchestra, Op. 67 (1914)

References

Sources

* *Brown, David, ''Tchaikovsky: The Final Years, 1885–1893'', (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1991). . *Maes, Francis, tr. Arnold J. Pomerans and Erica Pomerans, ''A History of Russian Music: From ''Kamarinskaya ''to'' Babi Yar (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 2002). . *Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai, ''Letoppis Moyey Muzykalnoy Zhizni'' (St. Petersburg, 1909), published in English as ''My Musical Life'' (New York: Knopf, 1925, 3rd ed. 1942). ISBN n/a. *Taruskin, Richard, ''Stravinsky and the Russian Traditions'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). . * Volkov, Solomon, tr. Antonina W. Bouis, ''St. Petersburg: A Cultural History'' (New York: The Free Press, 1995). .

External links

*
Naxos site about Liadov's life and music

Lyadov Music Society (Russia)
(in Spanish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyadov, Anatoly Konstantinovich 1855 births 1914 deaths 19th-century classical composers from the Russian Empire 19th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Russian classical composers 20th-century Russian conductors (music) Russian male conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians Composers for piano Burials at Tikhvin Cemetery Musicians from Saint Petersburg Pupils of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Russian male classical composers Russian Romantic composers Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Ballets Russes composers